ELDER RECOGNITION: Linda Stone

LCO News: Tell us about growing up here at LCO

Linda: I didn’t move here until I was in my teens. Sometimes it’s hard to remember, but I lived out in Hayward. A man who helped Natives, he helped my mother get a house out in Hayward. There till I was 18 and then I went out to Haskell Indian School. After that I moved to Minneapolis from when I was 19.

When I moved back to LCO I lived with my mother first in Signor, then I got my own house. I lived with her there in her two bedroom house. I had eight siblings, four brothers and four sisters. Two of them died when they were babies. We were all born boy, girl, boy, girl.

My father was Joe Mike and my mother was Francis “Gadiin” Mike.

LCO News: When you moved back from the Cities, where did you work?

Linda: Yea, I worked as a teacher aide for a long time at LCO School, and I’m still there but I’m in the Grandparents program. It’s funny, I never liked school when I was in school and I said I’d never go back, and now here I am, I’m working at LCO School. But I just love the kids, I love them all.

I’ve been at LCO School since 1993. I’ve worked there for a long time, I’ve worked there when Beverly Gouge was there, or Rita Mae Corbine was there. I worked with Eugene Bigboy for, gosh, I don’t know how many years and he was one of the best teachers I ever worked for. He was a very good teacher. Back when I was an aide, we were in the modulars. It’s come a long ways since then.

LCO News: What did you do back in Minneapolis?

Linda: I had so many jobs it was like day labor. I also worked in the school system there too as a teacher aide. It was a tri-school, three different schools in one building. I worked for a secretary. Can’t think of think of the name, but there was an old red school at the University of Minnesota that had an Ojibwe School there, I worked at.

LCO News: How many kids do you have?

Linda: I have four. I had three boys, one daughter. My daughter is the oldest. I lost one son. My boys Gregory Stone, Tauno Joseph Mike and Joshua Stone. Tauno Joe was the one I lost. I used to hang around Judy Quaderer, Don Louis, Julie Snow, they were some who hung around with back in school. I remember this one time I was fighting with this one girl and I had to go to the principal’s office for fighting. I was so mad at that girl. Just a dumb ole fight, I said I’d never do that again, but I was sticking up for someone. I graduated in 1968.

I have grandkids. I have great grandkids. Like 10 grandchildren. I live in Signor, but I do attend Smart Bodies in Reserve, it helps to keep mobility. Keeps me in shape. I had four strokes in one day back in 1998. Two weeks before Christmas. I thought I just had the flu but I just kept getting worse through the day. Soon I was dragging my left side and my daughter took me to hospital. I kept falling that day and I didn’t know what was wrong with me. They confirmed it in the hospital. I was there about a week.

My kids tried to make it festive, it was just before Christmas. My son Joe was determined to cut the Christmas tree and have that ready, and it ended up cutting himself, he was a leftie, and he was brought into the hospital, and when they told me about it, I was dragging myself down the hallway. A nurse had to come rush over with a wheelchair.

LCO News: So you’ve done good since the stroke, you stayed working?

Linda: The doctor told me I was never going to be better, but I was determined. He said I’d have to live with things. I was like, oh hell no. My daughter started out by taking me to bingo, I really enjoyed bingo. So, they’d have to cut my one strip, that’s what we started out with, but a month later, I was doing my 12 squares on my own. It was a blessing, cuz everytime we’d go, we’d win just enough to come back again. There was always enough to keep going. I was out of work with the school for a couple years and then I went back as a substitute. And then I did the Grandparents thing.

This stroke happened to me when I was in my early 40’s. And I’m very happy I came back from that. I just kept saying I’m not going to be like that. I love to go to Honor the Earth Powwow and see everyone. I’ve lost a lot of people and its good to go see people. My bestie comes in every year and we have a lot of fun, her and I. She’s out in California.

When I was younger I used to do a lot of skiing in the winter time. I’d also logroll in the summer. I used to work at Telemark and I met Emeril Legasse, the chef. I met a lot of celebrities back then. I met the Monkey’s. There was this place called the Big Top that was right next to Historyland in Hayward and they had a lot of Big Bands come in.

When I was young and training for skiing and logrolling, I use to run a lot. I could run five miles. I ran the mile in 5 minutes.